iPads In The Classroom: Worth Doing Right

Tablets in K-12 and higher education should not be technology for technology's sake.

3. Teachers And The School

With thousands of classroom hours under my belt, I really have an appreciation for the work that full-time educators do and the incredible range of challenges they face. At the end of the day, teachers are still people with varying levels of motivation, care, technical acumen, common sense, and suitability for a tech-dependent classroom initiative.

-- Underperforming teachers don't get better because of iPads. Where a particular teacher is failing for whatever reason, there's little chance that adding technology to their curriculum is going to make them more successful. In fact, it can likely have the opposite effect, especially if the goals of the program are not crystal clear. If the teacher doesn't buy into the value of the program, or if effective training on both the device and apps to be used has not been provided to the faculty, success is likely not going to be achieved.

-- Teachers are the first line of tech support, and don't want to be. Nothing is more frustrating to a teacher who only has 40 minutes to get through a class than a student who takes up the first 15 minutes because he's having a device problem. It's easy to say "send them to IT support and don't waste class time," but in reality it's just not that simple for a caring teacher who wants to help.

-- Are faculty teaching students, or administering an IT initiative? When an iPad program has been played up to students, administrators, and even the media as a big deal, teachers can feel obligated to decrease legitimate instructional time to make sure the iPads get used to the satisfaction of their bosses, regardless of whether students are truly benefitting. It's easy for priorities to get lost.

4. The Technology

A classroom full of iPads creates a slew of challenges for everyone involved. When multiple classes with the same student and device density are in close proximity, it gets even more complicated. From operation of the wireless network to inventory control to client support, there is a total cost of ownership to iPad programs beyond just purchasing the devices that needs to be understood.

-- Lots of wireless devices demand a good network. Not all wireless networks are created equal. As you increase your iPad counts, the complexity of the wireless network gets more pronounced. You'll need more access points professionally configured, and competing technologies, such as classroom response systems, certain cordless phones, and personal hotspots, will have to be mitigated.

-- What are the iPads connecting to? Even the best networks can feel sluggish if traffic headed to the Internet (or another campus) doesn't have a big enough "pipe" to get there, so your wired network and ISP connectivity might need to bulk up as well.

-- What about printing, Apple TVs, etc? Apple's Bonjour protocol is notoriously limited in its capabilities beyond the home setting, but is still the way most iPads communicate with Airprint and AppleTV applications. You might well have to redesign your network to support these.

-- Who administers the environment? Gone are the days when a faculty member or maintenance person can do network administration in their spare time. If an iPad program bears on student grades, it needs legitimate support from device to app to network.

-- Do you provide spares or pay for device damages? iPads are pricey, and kids of all ages break things. Who is on the hook for damaged devices? Do you keep spares so students are not without theirs in the case of theft or damage?

-- Are students expected to use iPads at home? Though residential connectivity is at an all-time high, not all students have the luxury. How do you address the divide?

As simple as an iPad program might seem, it's really anything but. Certainly mobile devices are opening new doors in education when used right, but take the plunge without having a solid plan, and no one will benefit. Study the successes and failures of like institutions with similar programs (including the "how it will be used", and not just the "what device to buy" questions), and proceed with caution. iPad programs worth doing are worth doing right.

This article was really very informative and thought-provoking. I was surprised, however, to see no mention of the need to secure the iPads from theft and to charge & sync them routinely. Charging & syncing is an ordeal within itself, but with a sync & charge cart the process becomes so much easier. We have been using Datamation Systems sync & charge cart and it has made iPad management so much easier. If anybody is interested we purchased them through www.ipadcarts.com.

Good classroom managers won't have that problem. If a teacher has control over their classroom, they have nothing to worry about.

I began teaching in a 1:1 PC environment in 1996. There were no filters on the network. Over the past 18 years, the only teachers who needed help controlling where their students were going on the internet, were time and time again, the poor classroom managers. The pattern is the same every year. Poor classroom managers are illuminated in any one to one setting. These are same teachers who complain and demand help controlling devices in the classroom. A few short years ago the porn magazine was in the backpack. Students knew which teachers wouldn't notice if the magazine came out, and more importantly, which teachers would notice.

iPads will save the school lots of money by replacing textbooks. GPS tracking will help to find the stolen and lost iPads. More students will remember to bring their "books" to school and read them from cover to cover. Many studies have shown that giving the students more literary experiences will offset the disadvantages of poverty. Steve Jobs once said that computers are like bicycles for our minds. LAUSD students will be able to ride into the 21st Century, but to where?

My first question is how are teachers supposed to control the iPads in the classroom? Proxy websites that get around the district filters are now an industry. How will LAUSD deal with all the students looking up porn on the Internet?

I'm not a big fan of tablets in schools, at least for K through 8th grade. Our kids are already spending too much time in front of screens. They don't need more of it, even if it is "educational." What really concerns me is Lee's point that some schools want to get the tablets in the kids' hands because it makes the school seem up to date, but they don't actually have a plan for integrating tablets sensibly into the curriculum.

In case the nuance was lost- I'm not saying "don't do tablets or technology" in the classroom. I'm saying not to rush in without a plan that you can build on and without considering all aspects of the program. There are lots of initiatives that are resounding successes, but they didn't come about just because someone bought iPads and passed them out.

So are you saying it's fine to pick the gadget that looks like a good choice today, without worrying too much about tomorrow? Argument being: today's choice will be obsolete tomorrow anyway. That's what I took from the first part of your note: the idea that planning for long-term maintenance was probably fruitless when tech is changing so fast.

Technology in the classroom is usually viewed as an "investment" of sorts in that it's not just how can it be used today, but how it will work for us two or three years down the road - when it's still being paid for. I don't know of a single user of ANY piece of technology that buys a device thinking that it will still be relevant several years down the road. Also, if iPad (or any comparable device) is the flavor of the day, will it still be in favor at the end of it's desired lifecycle? (These sorts of long-term maintenance plans can cost more than the initial device itself.)

I believe the best chance of success for a program of this nature comes when we don't also try to solve the problem of "technology in the homes." We've seen too many school districts try to solve both problems in the past...and fail miserable. There are a great number of educational purposes that these devices can address without allowing students to take them home on a daily basis (where it's a given fact that the devices will break down at a much faster rate, adding significantly to the costs.)

I'd be curious to understand the ROI of using a tablet device not merely in addition to hard copy books, but in replacement of! I think there is where you have a better chance of getting this technology more broadly adopted.

Our data shows these innovators using digital technology in two key areas: providing better products and cutting costs. Almost half of them expect to introduce a new IT-led product this year, and 46% are using technology to make business processes more efficient.

Worries about subpar networks tanking unified communications programs could be valid: Thirty-one percent of respondents have rolled capabilities out to less than 10% of users vs. 21% delivering UC to 76% or more. Is low uptake a result of strained infrastructures delivering poor performance?